The Quick and the Dead

Sam Raimi channels the spirit of Sergio Leone's spaghetti westerns in this flamboyantly stylized 1995 film. Set in the ironically-named desert town of Redemption—a savage, mercenary place run like a Roman Emperor by the arrogant and ruthless Herod (the marvelously cool and cruel Gene Hackman)—The Quick and the Dead revolves around an annual gunfight competition for the title of “fastest gun.” Each winner moves on to the next round, while losers are picked over by the parasitic townsfolk, until reigning champion Herod takes on the last man standing. Or, maybe this year, woman: Sharon Stone is an enigmatic stranger who wanders into town along with the usual rogue's gallery of cocky gunslingers (which include Leonardo DiCaprio, Russell Crowe, Keith David, and Lance Henriksen). Made long before his Spider-Man films, The Quick and the Dead finds Raimi playing in the genre sandbox while still trying to figure out how to marry his energetic style and offbeat sense of humor with Hollywood filmmaking. Short on story, character, and logic, Raimi is all style here, bringing a look of windblown desolation to the dusty town while presenting the gunfights as savage, but the overall tone here is wobbly. Looking sharp on Blu-ray, extras include a “Movie IQ” trivia feature accessible through the BD-Live function. Not a necessary purchase. (S. Axmaker)